TOKYO DRAMA AWARD

2009

The story begins when Kawatoh, a teacher who devotes himself to education, is transferred to a particular high school. This school’s baseball club is practically inactive and is filled with the school’s trouble makers. The members never go to classes, have lost their passion for baseball, and waste everyday just hanging around. Kawatoh starts to pull the club back together hoping to give the students their dreams. Rebellious students and a teacher who never gives up; the endless battle begins. At first the students pay no attention to the annoying teacher, but gradually open their hearts and follow their dreams with the help of Kawatoh’s enthusiasm and the words “Polish your dreams, so they shine tomorrow”.

“Garden of Breeze” is the culmination of the Furano Series drama which has been written by scriptwriter, Sou Kuramoto. He also wrote “FROM THE NORTHERN COUNTRY”（～'02), “Affectionate Time”('05）as the Furano Series dramas. This is a human drama that pursue the meaning of “life and death” through a man on the brink of death, who returns to his separated family. 　Sadami Shiratori (Kiichi Nakai) works as an anesthetist at a university hospital in Tokyo. Sadami is a respected anesthetist, an expert in pain relief treatment for patients who are terminally ill. However, in the meantime, no one knows that he has terminal cancer. As he becomes more conscious of his own death, he decides to go back to his hometown where his father, Sadazou (Ken Ogata) and his two children, Rui (Meisa Kuroki), Gaku (Ryunosuke Kamiki) live. His father renounced Sadami seven years ago because of his unfaithful attitude to his wife, resulting in her committing suicide. He has not been allowed to see his children since then. Sadami’s father, along with his grandchildren, takes care of the British garden which Sadami’s wife loved. Various flowers blossom each season and the wind goes through the beautiful garden. Is Sadami able to go back to his hometown and be welcomed again? 　Kuramoto’s great script and wonderful cast create an excellent human drama against the backdrop of lush green and beautiful nature in Furano. It took a year to shoot this drama. The director is Rieko Miyamoto, whose sensitive direction is rightfully acknowledged. She also directed “Affectionate Time” and “Dear Father”.

A scriptwriter, Taichi Yamada, wrote this drama series, “ORDINARY MIRACLES”, twelve years after he wrote “Apples and Oranges IV”. Our normal lives are surrounded by many small miracles although we might not notice them. This drama’s title contains Taichi Yamada’s message that if you could only notice these miracles, you would find hope. The story revolves around a man, a woman and their families. One evening, a middle-aged man, Makoto (Takanori Jinnai), is standing on a train platform, about to jump in front of a train. Kana (Yukie Nakama) and Shota (Ryou Kase) both happen to be on the same platform, and sensing what is about to happen, they quickly pull him back to safety. However, Makoto criticizes them strongly, claiming that he was not going to commit suicide. There is a reason why Kana and Shota realized Makoto’s intentions. They both have the same kind of emotional scars that cannot be put into words. Despite so much pain, they become attracted to each other. Kana is from a family of four - parents, her grandmother, and herself. Shota’s family has three men, his father, his grandfather, and himself. Both families appear normal, seemingly without problems. However, everyone has different pains and secrets from their own family. In this modern society, lonely people try to communicate awkwardly and slowly open up their hearts to find hope. This process is depicted by Yukie Nakamae as Kana, Ryou Kase as Shota, and their families.

The main story concerns concealment of product recall by a large corporation. It is a dark side of a social issue that anyone could face today. This drama is based on a car manufacturing company, however, concealment of recall, falsification of reports, and cover up of defects are possible with any large organization. The drama was produced to show the discrepancy between company and society. For example, it poses the question why illegality occurs? Although we have often heard the word “compliance”, why do companies still make the same mistakes? At home, you are a caring and considerate family man but why do you become a guilty person when working in a company? The original story was written by Jun Ikeido, who is known for many high-profile works, including the Rampo Edogawa Award winner, “Hatsuru Sokonaki”. He has the experience of working at a bank and has good knowledge, which has helped him in writing economic literature. His thorough research has led to realistic descriptions in his stories in a broad genre. This story was also nominated for the 136th Naoki Awards and is well known. The main character, Akamatsu, the president of a transportation company, is performed by Toru Nakamura, who continues his remarkable activities in TV dramas and films. Akamatsu is confronted by a section chief of the car company, Sawada, performed by Seiichi Tanabe. There are other great actors such as Masato Hagiwara, Miki Mizuno, Jun Kunimura, etc. The drama carefully portrays the responsibilities and justifications of different characters, including the main character who decides to fight according to his beliefs although the truth is concealed and he almost succumbs to pressure from the large corporation.

”Biography of a Detective　The Cases of Hachibei Hiratsuka” is a story of the life of a distinguished detective named Hachibei Hiratsuka, who lived during the Showa Era. The main character of the story, Hachibei, outstandingly solved the incident called the Yoshinobu Case. It was the best-known kidnapping incident after the World War II that became a social phenomenon. While the top management of the police decided to terminate the investigation, Hachibei continued on his own against the orders by his boss, and forced the suspect to confess shortly before the detention period expired. Hachibei spotted contradictory points in one word that the suspect casually mentioned, and eventually drove the suspect into a corner. The process of investigation indeed serves as the prototype of detective stories today. Around the time of incident, Japan was recovering from the dark years following the War and started to become affluent. Hachibei courageously tackled the incident that symbolized such changing times. The drama is a human document that describes how a detective managed to keep his own principles during such times, and depicts another side of the history of criminal incidents after the War.

This is a story of rice production in the mountains which nowadays has been abandoned by the agricultural administration. However, one day during summer, a situation occurs that draws the attention of many Japanese people to the rice field in the northeast. Minori Tsukimura has worked at a trading firm in Tokyo for five years. One day in May, her boss, who has predicted a bad autumn crop, orders Minori to purchase rice in advance from the mountains in the northeast. This was because of a top-secret weather forecast from the United Sates that there would be a record-breaking intense heat wave this summer. If the temperature rises over 35 degrees during summer, the ears of rice would not grow well hence they expected the dramatic increase in the rice price. Minori arrives in Miyagi to purchase rice quickly before anyone else. However, the leader of the farmers, Toyozo Yahagi, stands in their way. Despite the high price Minori offers, Toyozo refuses to sell and insists that the rice is for local people. Before too long, Minori’s hidden past is revealed….

It is the total collection of 10 episodes of a mini-series drama, “MOMOYAMA ONIGIRI Store” located in Hokkaido. It is a summer-time story of a family who run an Onigiri Store in Sapporo. The eldest son, Tetsuya, is expected to be a successor of the shop, but he is a musician and does not want to do so. However, he unintentionally says in a live TV show that he would take over the running of the shop, and the story is set in motion. His young sister’s disappearance from the house, his infatuation with a customer, his invitation to work with a music producer, his past grandfather’s ONIGIRI philosophy, and his mother’s illness all come together in this drama. The growth of the main character who wavers between his dream and his family is portrayed with the motif of Japanese soul food “ONIGIRI” against the beautiful summer backdrop of Sapporo, Hokkaido.

Ma Wen and Yang Xin used to be a couple but now divorced. They have a 10-year old son, called Ma Hu. The two have divorced in a heat of the moment, however, the financial reality forces them to continue living in the same apartment. Ma Wen keeps dating different women, but he secretly hopes to restore his marriage with Yang Xin. Yang Xin, however, wants to re-marry this time to her colleague, Li Yi, who is also divorced and has just lost his house and possessions in the divorce settlement. Yang Xin soon marries Li Yi, but Li Yi moves in with Yang Xin and Ma Wen, and the bizarre cohabitation of the four starts.
　The lead character, Ma Wen, is played by Lin Yongjian who is the No. 1 actor in the role of a common person. His partner, Yang Xin is played by Song Dandan, the master comedienne of China who is actively performing in theatre, drama, and films. She won the Magnolia Award for the Best Actress at the Shanghai Television Festival. Yang Xin’s new partner, Li Yi, is played by Li Chongxiao, who plays a wide range of characters in dramas such as ”Five Star Hotel”. The drama is based on a novel of the same title by Ye Zhaoyan. The original storyline was about a factory worker who had been laid off in downsizing, but this was adapted by the script writer, Chen Tong, into a story of a corporate employee and the family in a big city. The superb exchange between Ma Wen, the “bad loser”, and Yang Xin, and the rhythmical dialogue are gratifying. Despite the theme of divorce, it is not too dark and portrays wavering minds of the middle-aged generation about family, marriage and happiness, sometimes with humour and sometimes more seriously.

In Rajasthan in the north western region of India where the desert stretches, the practice of child marriage still remains. In accordance with this custom, friends of Anandi, who has been lovingly brought up by her parents in a rural village, have married into new families. At the age of only eight, Anandi is also to marry Jagdish of the same age. Her parents are pleased with the match, but for Anandi, the sense of estrangement increases at her new husband’s house away from her own family. She stops smiling despite her cheerful disposition. Her wish to go home to her parents keeps growing until one day she borrows some money from the altar and heads home.
　The drama received a great response from the start for addressing the sensitive theme of child marriage, which still continues in some areas as custom although it is against the law. It dominated the 10 main categories at the Indian Television Academy Awards (ITA) 2008. It also gave people opportunities to think about human rights, women’s rights and social transformation by contrasting the old traditions with modern ideas. Avika Gor plays a difficult role of Anandi who marries while still immature mentally and physically, then matures as a member of her new family and becomes a friend, lover and wife to her young husband. A veteran actress, Surekha Sikri, plays the grandmother-in-law who disciplines her grandson’s wife strictly, and won the Best Actor in a Negative Role (Female) award at ITA and Telly.

The drama “Beethoven Virus” caused a classical music storm in Korea, dominating the popularity stakes and public attention. People of different ages, character and upbringing yet sharing a love of music and the experience of being defeated by music come together and do their best to pursue the dream of forming a classical orchestra. This drama portrays them with tears and laughter, making the viewers feel optimistic and refreshed.
Rumi is a civil servant for the city government, culture and art section. Her proposal which she put together 10 minutes before the deadline is given the go-ahead, and she is now responsible to run the “Project Orchestra”. But the news that the producer of the project stole the funds disappoints the orchestra members and they all leave. Rumi, however, needs to ensure the success of the concert, and she hands out leaflets to recruit orchestral members. Distinctive members come together such as Kang Gun-woo, a suspended policeman who plays the trumpet beautifully, and the orchestra starts to move forward after trial and error. As for the conductor, the orchestra welcomes an internationally acclaimed maestro, Kang Ma-ae. 。
　The cast is a line-up of those in top form. The maestro of the orchestra is performed by Kim Myeung Min who showed superb acting in the Korean version of “White Tower”. The genius trumpeter is played by Jang Geun Suk, the most-watched handsome young actor who appeared in popular dramas such as "Hwang Jini" and "Hong Gil Dong". As for the actresses, E Jiah, who co-starred with Bae Yong Joon in “The Legend" (Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi) plays Rumi. The DVD box set, currently on sale, includes special scenes such as those of a gathering of fans, a “job well done” party and other footage.

(C)All Rights Reserved by MBC 2008 Special thanks to: AMUSE SOFT ENTERTAINMENT Inc

Yeen and Mia are two sisters. Although Mia is dyslexic, she is good natured and gentle. Her elder sister, Yeen, on the other hand, is clever but does not like studying and is only interested in dressing up. She thinks her father only cares for her sister who has a disability and that she is unloved, thus she is rebellious and defies her father at every opportunity and distances herself from him.
　When Yeen is 19, she gets a boyfriend, however, her father does not approve of him and Yeen sees him behind her father’s back. When Mia tells her father about him, the father is infuriated and presses him to marry her. The man refuses, claiming that he is the one who had been seduced. Yeen, unable to stand the situation, leaves home for Kuala Lumpur. Yeen’s hatred toward her sister Mia gradually intensifies.
　Yeen starts working as a receptionist at a construction company in Kuala Lumpur. There she meets Razuan, an engineer, marries him and starts living in luxury, while Mia and their father live quietly in the countryside. One day, however, their father dies, and Yeen reluctantly takes in Mia. Yeen, however, does not tell the truth to the others and treats her as a maid from Indonesia, being hard on her.
　This love-hate drama of sisters was very popular and the second series was also made.